France's antitrust authority is in contact with telecom operators on market consolidation

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PARIS, June 25 (Reuters) - The French competition authority is in regular contact with the country's four telecom operators, its president said on Monday when asked about potential mergers within the sector.

Speculation about a new round of talks between Orange , Bouygues Telecom, Altice and Iliad to cut the number of operators from four to three have surfaced again lately, given high investment requirements and a current price war in the sector.

"We have regular contacts with the operators that allow us to anticipate certain transactions that could materialize," said Isabelle de Silva, the head of France's antitrust watchdog.

"We remain convinced that such a transaction will only be made possible if there's no negative impact for the consumer," she added. (Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)